NASHVILLE — Now that Scoonie Penn has rediscovered his shooting eye, his next target is the Miami Hurricanes.

Penn’s Ohio State Buckeyes will take on Miami in today’s second round of the South subregional.

On Friday, Penn scored 23 points as Ohio State jumped on Appalachian State early and cruised to an 87-61 victory in the first round. Miami followed with a 75-71 win over Arkansas to set up today’s showdown.

Ohio State had been waiting for Penn to rediscover his shooting touch after his scoring average dipped from last season. Penn had struggled enough that coach Jim O’Brien recently asked him if he needed his eyes checked.

“He looked at me like I was crazy,” O’Brien said.

So O’Brien left Penn alone, warning him only not to pass up good shots and not to take bad shots. His patience paid off Friday when Penn went 9-of-11 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, in the Buckeyes’ first-round victory.

Penn downplayed his performance.

“I’m not going to get too overly excited about it because it’s one game, and there’s another to play tomorrow,” he said.

“If I can keep it up, I might get excited, but I’m going to stay real humble,” Penn said.